That You May Believe - Study Guide

Week 20 - May 16th, 2021

John 1:12-13

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Context: These words appear in the opening of John’s Gospel. The evangelist tells his readers that although Jesus came to His own people, His own people did not receive Him. He then offers this wonderful assuring promise to all who do receive Jesus.

Meaning: The only condition for becoming a child of God is receiving Jesus. And what does receiving Jesus mean? Believing in His name. To become a child of God, one must accept the Biblical account of who Christ is and embrace His offer of salvation. When you do that, you become a new person, born not from human effort and sinful nature, but re-born in the image of God Himself.

Life Application: If “believing in Jesus’ name” is the means for becoming a child of God then we ought to understand what that phrase means. Believing in Jesus’ name begins with believing in His existence and the truth of the Gospel story, but belief in Jesus goes even further. To believe in Jesus is to give your life over to Him, acknowledging Him as King, and trusting in Him alone for ultimate hope.

For Further Study: Verse 13 tells us how our salvation came about—not just through human will alone, but through God’s will. The apostle Paul reflects on God’s role in salvation in Ephesians 2:4-6. Read this passage and consider how God’s will to save us and our responsibility to believe in Jesus relate to each other.